How should the government deliver the homes we need?
We’re in the middle of a housing crisis. 1.3 million households are stuck on housing waiting lists, and 145,800 children are in homeless in temporary accommodation. The highest number ever.
The human, environmental and economic costs of poor-quality homes and badly designed communities are well documented, and as the recent rise in populist movements and societal unrest shows, they’re no longer a price people are willing to pay.
The current market is broken. According to Shelter we’ve lost a quarter of a million social rent homes in England in the past decade. How did we get here, and how do we turn things around?
Enter the new government. Labour has said it will oversee the building of 1.5 million new homes by the next election (300,000 a year). We know they can’t do it alone.
The mission is set, but how’re we going to get there? How do we unblock the system of delivery. What are the barriers? What should the new government prioritise?
Can we create healthy, sustainable homes and neighbourhoods for everyone?
What might we have to sacrifice along the way?
Speakers include:
- Ben Derbyshire, Chair HTA Design, Past President RIBA, Commissioner Historic England
- Samuel Hughes, Research Fellow University of Oxford, Head of Housing Centre for Policy Studies, Fellow Create Streets
- Cllr Tom Renhard, Bristol City Council
- Louise Lote, Senior Land Manager Sovereign Network Group
Ben Derbyshire
Ben is Chair of HTA Design LLP, a leading multidisciplinary design practice specialising in housing and placemaking. He is a Commissioner of Historic England. He was President of RIBA from 2017 – 2019 where he oversaw the instigation of policies in relation to climate action, professional competence and codes of conduct.
Samuel Hughes
Samuel is a research fellow at the University of Oxford and a Policy Fellow in DLUHC. Samuel has previously worked in a range of think tank and government roles on built environment policy, new towns and urban design. Samuel has wide interests in architecture and urbanism, both as a matter of academic study and in terms of policy.
Councillor Tom Renhard
Tom Renhard is a Labour and Co-operative councillor and served as the cabinet member with responsibility for housing delivery and homes in Bristol City Council. Tom’s background is as a housing campaigner and has been a member of ACORN since 2014, campaigning for better housing conditions for tenants.
Louise Lote
Louise is a Senior Land Manager within SNGs Development Team. Leading on a range of large, regeneration sites, with a strong desire to develop high quality, placemaking-led sites. Louise has 15 years experience in the affordable housing sector, with a strong ethos for creating safe & sustainable homes which focus on the lived experience of customers, and enable them to thrive.
In partnership with Sovereign Housing.